It’s easy to focus on the top of the Cavs roster. The top of their roster has some of the top players in the world at their position.
But some of the guys who don’t log a ton of minutes are almost important. Every good team needs guys who fight hard in practice and stay ready if and when his number’s called. Shawn Marion can tell you about J.J. Barea and Brian Cardinal.
It’s important to remember that these are the 450 best basketball players on the planet.
If we’re talking about game-changers, the difference between among those 450 and working through the D-League to get back into that exclusive Association is a game-changing difference.
Will Cherry knows the difference. Right now, he’s playing sparingly for the Cavaliers – signed as a contingency plan after Matthew Dellavedova injured his MCL in the November 4 game in Portland. But he left an impression with the Cavaliers over the summer. And – after a a great late-season run with the Canton Charge – now he finds himself in the Wine and Gold bloodstream.
Even with Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins on the roster, Cherry made the story of the Cavs Summer League squad – putting on great performances in wins over the Bucks and Spurs – going off for 14 fourth-quarter points in the latter.
Cherry had two 21-point outings, averaged 12.8 points and 3.0 assists with the Cavs Summer League squad – taking over the starting spot when Delly left to join his Boomers for the FIBA World Cup in Spain.
After starring for the famed McClymonds High School in West Oakland – which produced NBA greats like Bill Russell and Paul Silas as well as streetball legend “Hook” Mitchell – Cherry went on to a standout four-year career at Montana, where he was a three-time All-Big Sky selection and finished as the school’s all-time leader in steals with 265.
Last year, when the Charge lost Jorge Gutierrez, who was called up the Brooklyn Nets, and Ben Uzoh, who suffered a season-ending injury, Will Cherry signed with Canton, earned the starting point guard spot and never looked back. He appeared in 18 games, starting 12, and averaged 11.6 points, 3.7 boards and 4.5 assists per contest – netting three (point-assist) double-doubles along the way.
Cherry got better as the season unfolded, dropping 21 points on Maine in the Charge’s home finale and averaging 13.3 points, 5.3 boards, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in Canton’s three-game playoff run.
But these days, Cherry is in the Show –being a solid teammate who’s always ready to roll.
Summer League in Vegas might seem meaningless to some basketball fans, but it’s also given guys a chance to reach their dream of playing in the NBA. Cherry will be at a sold-out Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night – an undrafted kid from Oakland, alongside LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
If you think two 21-point games in Summer League are meaningless, you’d only have to ask Will Cherry.